As we move through our different holidays, special events, and cold and flu season, I wanted to call your attention to how important attendance is to CLC’s operating budget. California public education funding is directly dependent on our learners’ attendance at school. It is based on an Average Daily Attendance (ADA)–that is, how many children are in seats each day. I think it is important for the community to understand that every absence (either planned or because of illness) reduces our funding by approximately $50. This may not seem very significant but the collective absences (almost 565) so far this year will result in a loss of $28,100 in state funding for CLC!

This lost revenue from absences is a combination of illnesses and planned absences (vacations, special events, etc.). Of course if your child is ill, please keep them home! Sick children at school are unhappy children and only expose other children, which in turn increases absences. I am in no way encouraging you to send your sick children to school so we don’t lose money! I want instead to focus on absences that are not related to illness.

If you are planning on taking your child out of school for a reason other than illness, there are a couple of ways where you can help to mitigate the cost.

If you are going to pull your child out of school for a vacation or travel for 3 or more days, please consider arranging for Independent Study. This is a relatively simple process that involves a little bit of paperwork and coordination with the classroom educator to set up a study plan for your child while they are away. This allows for your child to stay current with their classwork and for us to claim attendance funds for your child. Please see Quinta in the office if this is a program in which you can participate. (Note: This option must be arranged prior to the absence and will only help us if the work is completed and turned in when you return.)

If your child is out for reasons other than illness, please consider helping CLC cover this cost by offering $50 for each day absent. If you choose to do this, please identify it for this purpose so we can be sure to deposit it into the school’s general fund. (Reporting your child out sick, when they are actually missing school for another reason, does NOT help us recoup attendance revenue. This is a myth that is floating around out there…)

Hometown Days ParadeThe San Carlos Hometown Days Parade is Saturday, May 19th and we are looking for a volunteer to take the lead of representing our school. It's a fun, pretty easy job. If you are interested or have any questions, please contact Melissa May.

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Hop on board the Polar Express to the North Pole on Monday, December 11.

Join the Conga Line as we jingle our way from Educare to the Red Morton Community Center on Monday evening. Oh what fun it will be to wrap the mountain of gifts collected in the annual county-wide toy and book drive. Laughing all the way, the Educare elves will stake out a wrapping station for Charter families. The event kicks off at 5 PM and is scheduled to last until 8 PM.

Looking for a fun way to learn new strategies for engaging your 2nd through 5th grade mathematician? This two-part workshop being held at SCCLC on Tuesday, December 5 and Thursday, December 7 provides hands-on training with assorted manipulative materials that can be used to teach mathematical concepts and an interactive session with your child guided by two math specialists - Peggy McLean, a math educator at Synapse and Alison Mazzola, a SCCLC parent and math educator. Student trainers are also available to work with your mathematician. The fee for the workshop will include a large math kit with a variety of materials and three resource books. The materials in the kit can be used throughout elementary school and even into middle school!

For further details on the workshops including details on how to register, please click here.

Please note that is not an SCCLC sponsored event. SCCLC is graciously offering the space for the workshops.

Click the GREEN button below for more information on these workshops and other community offerings.

San Carlos Children's Theater's Production of The Princess Who Had No Name